Americans have probably long known this, but for Israelis, the realization that America may not be our best friend and faithful guardian is somewhat of a shocker. Now, for those still in doubt, a new book by Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Maryland Jeffrey Herf, exposes the “extent and intensity of opposition to the Zionist project in the entire top leadership of both the State Department and the Pentagon.”
Herf’s extensive research draws on new research in government, public, and private archives. The research reveals, for example, that on September 13, 1947, two and a half months before the League of Nations’ vote on the establishment of a Jewish and Arab state in Palestine, William Eddy, special assistant to secretary of state by George Marshall, wrote to his superior of his objection to the establishment of a “theocratic, racial Zionist state.” According to Herf, “Eddy found the Zionist project morally objectionable.”
Eddy was far from being a lone voice. The objection to the Zionist project “was shared by Secretary of State Marshall; the under secretary of state, Robert Lovett; the head of the Department’s Near East Division, Loy Henderson; the secretary of defense, James Forrestal; members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency; as well as Kennan and his Policy Planning Staff in the State Department.”
On February 1, 1944, Senators Robert Wagner and Robert Taft introduced a resolution seeking to abrogate the 1939 White Paper issued by the British Mandate authorities in Palestine, due to its anti-Zionist bias. According to Herf, “Critics of the Wagner-Taft Resolution denounced the Zionist project as an effort to establish a theocratic state,” and argued that Wagner and Taft were proposing “to establish a theocratic state based upon religious or racial discrimination.”
I am always in favor of exposing the truth as a first step toward correction. Indeed, America’s attitude toward Israel has always been very pragmatic. It has always sought to do what is best for America and nothing else.
America has no regard for Jewish or Israeli interests or for anyone’s interests but its own. Nor do they care about pressure from Jewish lobbies or the State of Israel; they simply have no regard for it. Whatever is good for America, this is what they will do, and the sooner everyone in Israel realizes it, the better it is for Israel. If at some point, America decides that supporting or protecting Israel does not serve its interests, it will kick Israel out the window just like that.
We should wake up from our naivety that leaders and countries that smile at us do so because they like us. I understand that centuries of persecution and suffering have made us receptive to such gestures, but they are illusions, and like all illusions, they always shatter painfully.
If Israel wants to be accepted by the nations, it must nurture its inner solidarity, and abandon its futile attempts to appease the world. The only thing that the world needs to see in Israel is Israelis striving to unite above all their divisions. This should be the sole interest of the State of Israel. However, unlike America’s interests, Israel’s interests are congruent with the interests of America, and with the interests of the entire world.
Our duty is to be a model of unity, solidarity, and mutual responsibility. Nothing else will legitimize our presence in the land of our fathers, who taught us that “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is the comprehensive law of our nation. Until we strive to set an example of such unity, no one will accept us. But if we learn to embrace one another, the world will embrace us in return.
And speaking of books, you will find more on the link between Jewish unity and hatred of Israel in my book 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝑺𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝑺𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅.
#pentagon #antisemitism #america
Photo Caption:
The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, by David B. Gleason (Wikimedia).
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